Three years ago last night, neo-Nazis and white supremacists gathered in Charlottesville and marched down UVA’s Lawn in protest of the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee from the now Market Street Park. In front of the Rotunda, these groups were met by counter-protestors, many of whom were students at UVA. White supremacists continued chanting and surrounded the group of counter-protestors, which resulted in violence as white supremacists began throwing tiki torches and pepper spraying counter-protestors.
Three years ago today, the same neo-Nazis and white supremacists had planned to march through Market Street Park and again they were met by counter-protestors. White supremacists and neo-Nazis shouted racial slurs and antisemitic language as they marched. Counter-protestors stood strongly against these white supremacists but violence again broke out. Unfortunately, a member of the Charlottesville community Heather Heyer was killed, and nineteen others were injured while protesting white supremacy when a car hit a group of counter-protestors. Susan Bro, Heather Heyer’s mother, said “I want her death to be a rallying cry for justice and equality and fairness and compassion” in an interview with HuffPost. Vigils and protests against white supremacy were held across the nation in response to the events in Charlottesville. Read more about what happened on August 11 and on August 12 (from Vox).
Following the Unite the Right rally, Charlottesville sought ways to come together as a community. Dave Matthews Band, originally from Charlottesville, organized a concert to bring together members of the Charlottesville community. Charlottesville City Public Schools as well as Albemarle County Public Schools banned students from wearing symbols of racial hatred and violence.
Today, the Charlottesville community is still coming to terms with its own history and the lingering effects of not only the rally, but also a long history of racism that can still be felt today. In this article from The Washington Post, Dorenda Johnson discusses racism in Charlottesville both before and after the rally. The article discusses historic racism in Charlottesville as well as the present day gentrification and displacement of minority and low-income members of the community. This article from C-Ville shows how victims of the rally are still struggling for support today. This goes to show that we as a community have much more work to do to create a welcoming and accepting environment. The history of the University is also incredibly important for all students to know because the University was built and sustained by enslaved laborers. Read about enslaved laborers at UVA here and read about UVA and the history of race here.
Local organizers in Charlottesville have organized a “Reclaim the Park” event in Market Street Park today from 1pm to 7pm. Find more information in this tweet from Zyahna Bryant (CLAS ‘23). If you are in Charlottesville and feel comfortable going out, we strongly recommend you put on a mask and attend this event to honor the anti-racist resistance to white supremacy. Additionally, the Virginia football team has created a group of “Groundskeepers” to “Take Back our Grounds” in an effort to “turn the pain of Aug. 12 into a celebration of life, love and unity” according to this article from The Daily Progress. The Groundskeepers are organizing small and safe marches from Heather Heyer Way to the Rotunda and encouraging others to follow the same path. The Race, Religion, and Democracy Lab at UVA is organizing a “Praying With Our Feet” event tonight at 7pm with Religious Activists that organized the counter-protests three years ago. You can learn more and register to join the event here.
We have said it before and we say it again: Black Lives Matter. We strongly condemn the actions and ideologies of the white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville three years ago. Earlier this summer, we sent out a message in support of and in solidarity with our students in the Black community on Grounds as well as the Black community across the nation. We also sent a list of resources for education and action and well as resources about Charlottesville’s history. We highly encourage you to check out these resources on our BLM page because we must be actively anti-racist. Please submit any resource suggestions you may have for the resource list and we will promote them on our communications platforms (submission form at the bottom of the list on the website).
Sincerely,
Echols Council